.............. Howard stopped
walking and merely stared in disbelief for a full
moment, before darting his eyes quickly to the left and
right. The bed was empty and the captain was
gone!....... Spinning in a slow
circle, the doctor strained his eyes for any sign of
movement along the shore or near their campsite. He
searched beneath all the tarps and looked behind each
crate and barrel. With a bit of involuntary trepidation
in his concerned voice, he called out the captain’s
name, a low, harsh whisper at first and then louder.
Finally, cupping his hands over his mouth, he shouted
at the top of his lungs........ “Captain
Keswick!!”....... The sound of his
call echoed across the quiet island and for a long
moment there was no reply at all. And then, the
response to his cry was offered. It was a great,
haunting howl that might have issued from the throat of
a giant timber wolf, baying mournfully at the full
moon. A flock of birds took flight, abandoning their
treetop nests, startled by the loud noise. Suddenly,
the night was eerily quiet, as if every animal on the
island feared the demon that made that noise. Howard’s
blood froze solid in his veins and he felt a spike of
frigid ice driven down the length of his spine. His
mouth hung open and he couldn’t seem to draw the next
breath. What the hell kind of creature made a sound
like that? Certainly, if the voice was any indication
of the size, the beast must be enormous........ Although he could
see nothing out of place, he felt as if hundreds of
eyes were watching his every movement. Or, perhaps,
merely one pair of cold eyes, molten red and burning
brightly in the darkness.